United News of Bangladesh

Elon Musk says he has lined up $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter, and he’s trying to negotiate an agreement with the company. Last week, Musk announced an offer to buy the social media company for $54.20 per share, or about $43 billion. At the time, he did not say how he would finance the acquisition. The Tesla CEO said Thursday in documents filed with U.S. securities regulators that he’s exploring what’s known as a tender offer to buy all of the social media platform’s common stock for $54.20 per share in cash. Under a tender offer, Musk, who owns about 9% of Twitter shares, would take his offer directly to other shareholders, bypassing the board. But Musk hasn’t decided yet whether to do that. The documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission say San Francisco-based Twitter Inc. has not responded to Musk’s proposal. Last week Twitter’s board adopted a “poison pill” defense that could make a takeover attempt prohibitively expensive. Read: Elon Musk wants to buy Twitter, make it 'maximally trusted' The filing states that “entities related to (Musk) have received commitment letters committing to provide an aggregate of approximately $46.5 billion.” The financing would come from Morgan Stanley and other financial institutions. Some would be secured by stock that Musk owns in Tesla, the electric car and solar panel maker. Other banks involved include Barclays, Bank of America, Societie Generale, Mizuho Bank, BNP Paribas and MUFG. Shares of Twitter were down slightly to $46.69 in Thursday morning trading after the financing became public. The share price is $7.51 below Musk’s offer. Musk “is seeking to negotiate a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Twitter ... and is prepared to begin such negotiations immediately,” the documents say. With a tender offer, Musk would try to get other shareholders to pledge their stock to him at a certain price on a certain date. If enough shareholders agree, Musk could use that as leverage to get the board to drop the poison pill defense. Musk signaled the possibility of a tender offer several times this week in tweets using the word “tender.” A message was left Thursday seeking comment from Twitter.

Netflix suffered its first subscriber loss in more than a decade, causing its shares to plunge 25% in extended trading amid concerns that the pioneering streaming service may have already seen its best days.  The company’s customer base fell by 200,000 subscribers during the January-March period, according to its quarterly earnings report released Tuesday It’s the first time that Netflix’s subscribers have fallen since the streaming service became available throughout most of the world outside of China six years ago. The drop this year stemmed in part from Netflix’s decision to withdraw from Russia to protest the war against Ukraine, resulting in a loss of 700,000 subscribers.  Netflix acknowledged its problems are deep rooted by projecting a loss of another 2 million subscribers during the April-June period.  If the stock drop extends into Wednesday’s regular trading session, Netflix shares will have lost more than half of their value so far this year — wiping out about $150 billion in shareholder wealth in less than four months.  Netflix is hoping to reverse the tide by taking steps it has previously resisted, including blocking the sharing of accounts and introducing a lower-priced — and ad-supported — version of its service.  Aptus Capital Advisors analyst David Wagner said it’s now clear that Netflix is grappling with an imposing challenge. “They are in no-(wo) man’s land,” Wagner wrote in a research note Tuesday. Read: Elon Musk wants to buy Twitter, make it 'maximally trusted'  Netflix absorbed its biggest blow since losing 800,000 subscribers in 2011 — the result of unveiled plans to begin charging separately for its then-nascent streaming service, which had been bundled for free with its traditional DVD-by-mail service. The customer backlash to that move elicited an apology from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings for botching the execution of the spin-off.  The latest subscriber loss was far worse than a forecast by Netflix management for a conservative gain of 2.5 million subscribers. The news deepens troubles that have been mounting for the streaming since a surge of signups from a captive audience during the pandemic began to slow.  It marks the fourth time in the last five quarters that Netflix’s subscriber growth has fallen below the gains of the previous year, a malaise that has been magnified by stiffening competition from well-funded rivals such as Apple and Walt Disney.  The setback follows the company’s addition of 18.2 million subscribers in 2021, its weakest annual growth since 2016. That contrasted with an increase of 36 million subscribers during 2020 when people were corralled at home and starved for entertainment, which Netflix was able to quickly and easily provide with its stockpile of original programming.  Netflix has previously predicted that it will regain its momentum, but on Tuesday faced up to the issues bogging it down. “COVID created a lot of noise on how to read the situation,” Hastings said in a video conference reviewing the latest numbers.  Among other things, Hastings confirmed Netflix will start crack down on the sharing of subscriber passwords that has enabled multiple households to access its service from a single account, with changes likely to roll out during the next year or so.  The Los Gatos, California, company estimated that about 100 million households worldwide are watching its service for free by using the account of a friend or another family member, including 30 million in the U.S. and Canada. “”Those are over 100 million households already are choosing to view Netflix,” Hastings said. “They love the service. We’ve just got to get paid at some degree for them.” Read: Netflix, TikTok block services in Russia to avoid crackdown  To stop the practice and prod more people to pay for their own accounts, Netflix indicated it will expand a test introduced last month in Chile, Peru and Costa Rica that allows subscribers to add up to two people living outside their households to their accounts for an additional fee.  Netflix ended March with 221.6 million worldwide subscribers. The subscriber downturn clipped Netflix’s finances in the first quarter when the company’s profit fell 6% from last year to $1.6 billion, or $3.53 per share. Revenue climbed 10% from last year to nearly $7.9 billion.  With the pandemic easing, people have been finding other things to do, and other video streaming services are working hard to lure new viewers with their own award-winning programming. Apple, for instance, held the exclusive streaming rights to “CODA,” which eclipsed Netflix’s “Power of The Dog,” among other movies, to win Best Picture at last month’s Academy Awards.  Escalating inflation over the past year has also squeezed household budgets, leading more consumers to rein in their spending on discretionary items. Despite that pressure, Netflix recently raised its prices in the U.S., where it has its greatest household penetration — and where it’s had the most trouble finding more subscribers. In the most recent quarter, Netflix lost 640,000 subscribers in the U.S. and Canada, prompting management to point out that most of its future growth will come in international markets.  Netflix also is trying to give people another reason to subscribe by adding video games at no extra charge — a feature that began to roll out last year.

Youth-centric brand realme has launched its Eid campaign with different offers. Users can get the opportunity to enjoy a trip to Bali with a companion while buying any realme device. Also read: Realme narzo 50 launched The campaign started on April 4 and will continue till May 3. During this campaign, every user who buys a realme device will get something in return. Besides cashback, there are opportunities to win realme GT, Narzo50, C31 smartphones, realme watch or band, realme t-shirt, and umbrella. Also read: Realme leads Bangladesh smartphone market in 2021: Counterpoint realme brings consumers products with trendsetting technologies, features and trendsetting experiences that are first applied in the price segment. It is developing a diverse portfolio of 5G products to offer 100 million 5G phones in the next three years to young users, says the company.

With its camera, design, and battery features, the Y series has set a new standard, Global smartphone brand vivo says. Vivo launched some phones with innovative camera qualities in its Y series. Vivo Y33s has a 50MP rear camera, supported by a 2MP bokeh camera and a 2MP super macro camera.  Read Xiaomi Redmi 10c Review: Can this budget phone fulfil users’ needs? The 50MP rear camera sensor offers high-definition photography with pristine clarity irrespective of zoom in or crop.  Vivo Y21T offers an advanced 50MP main camera supported by a super macro camera that focuses as close as 4cm and a bokeh camera that has been optimised to make the background appear natural and smooth.  Also, it has an 8MP super night selfie on the front panel that yields bright and clear images. Read Samsung Galaxy A23 4G: Can it uphold the reputation of ancestors? Vivo Y21T appears elegant and professional. The side-mounted fingerprint scanner allows users to access the device quickly.  Y1s is designed for a strong and comfortable grip along with beautiful 3D curves. Vivo Y15s, Y21T and Y21 are powered by a long-lasting 5000mAh battery. Read Walton Primo S8 Mini: A Budget Friendly Gaming Phone

Xiaomi Bangladesh Thursday came up with different offers on its smartphones and tabs ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr. During the campaign, customers can win Xiaomi laptops, data bundle packs, Xiaomi Eco products and smartphones every day. Read Eid: Samsung offers discounts on Galaxy A03, Galaxy Z flip 3 5G Customers can avail of the Eid offer by buying specific devices – Xiaomi 11T Pro, Xiaomi 11T, Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G, Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G, Xiaomi Pad 5, Redmi Note 11S, Redmi Note 10 Pro 108MP Edition, Redmi Note 11, Redmi 10 (2022), and Redmi 9A.  They will also get a chance to win Redmi smartphones, MI Smart Band 6, Redmi earphones, and Redmi Basic earbuds. The winners will be selected through a lottery.  Read Vivo brings Baishakhi offers ahead of Pahela Baishakh Customers will also get up to 15GB of free data bundle offers.  Xiaomi's Eid campaign 2022 will continue until the day before Eid.  Customers can avail of this offer by buying smartphones and tabs from authorised Xiaomi stores. Read Eid Offers 2022: Various Deals, and Discounts in Bangladesh

In 10 days, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has gone from popular Twitter contributor and critic to the company's largest individual shareholder to a would-be owner of the social platform — a whirlwind of activity that could change the service dramatically given the sometimes whimsical billionaire's self-identification as a free-speech absolutist. Twitter revealed in a securities filing Thursday that Musk has offered to buy the company outright for more than $43 billion, saying the social media platform “needs to be transformed as a private company" in order to build trust with its users. “I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk said in the filing. “I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form.” Also read: Elon Musk accused of breaking law while buying Twitter stock Later in the day, during an onstage interview at the TED 2022 conference, he went even broader: “Having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization." Since it burst onto the scene in 2006, Twitter has been home to flourishing social and political commentary, shared news, scandal gossip, cat memes and dress color arguments. But it has also provided a platform for viral misinformation and lies, bullying and hate speech and gangs of trolls who can shout down posters they disagree with by unleashing tidal waves of vile images, threats and similar acts of online aggression. Twitter has devoted a substantial amount of effort to stanching the latter while preserving the former — though not always in ways that satisfy most users. Like other platforms, it has established restrictions on tweets that threaten violence, incite hatred, bully others and spread misinformation. Such rules drove Twitter's decision to ban former President Donald Trump following the 2021 Capitol insurrection. Twitter has also become a destination for brands and advertisers, many of whom prefer stronger content restrictions, and a megaphone for high-profile figures like Trump and Musk, who’s used it to rally supporters and promote business ventures. Musk, who described Twitter as a “de facto town square,” detailed some specific potential changes Thursday — like favoring temporary rather than permanent bans — but has mostly described his aim in broad and abstract terms. He said he wanted to open up the “black box” of artificial intelligence technology driving Twitter’s feed so that people would have more transparency about why some tweets might go viral and others might disappear. “I wouldn’t personally be in there editing tweets," he said, “but you would know if something was done to promote, demote or otherwise affect a tweet.” The billionaire has been a vocal critic of Twitter, mostly over his stated belief that it falls short on free-speech principles. The social media platform has angered followers of Trump and other right-wing political figures who’ve had their accounts suspended for violating its content standards on violence, hate or harmful misinformation. Musk has described himself as a “free-speech absolutist” but is also known for blocking other Twitter users who question or disagree with him. While Twitter's user base remains much smaller than those of rivals such as Facebook and TikTok, the service is popular with celebrities, world leaders, journalists and intellectuals. Musk himself has more than 81 million followers, rivaling pop stars such as Lady Gaga. Twitter shares closed at $45.08, down just under 2%, well below Musk's offer of $54.20 per share. That's generally a sign that some investors doubt the deal will go through. The stock remains down from its 52-week high of about $73. Also read: Elon Musk no longer joining Twitter's board of directors Musk called that price his final offer, although he provided no details on financing. The offer is non-binding and subject to financing and other conditions. Twitter said it will decide whether accepting the offer is in the best interests of shareholders. It's unclear, though, just how Twitter’s board will react after evaluating the offer. It likely will negotiate, seeking a higher price per share, or it may want provisions to ensure that the board remains independent of Musk, said John Coffee, a professor at Columbia University’s law school and head of its corporate governance center. The board could adopt “poison pill” provisions to offer more shares and dilute the value of Musk’s holdings, if Musk’s stake grows to 10% or 15%, Coffee said. Even then, Musk could still take over the company with a proxy fight by voting out the current directors. At the TED conference, Musk said he has the money. “I could technically afford it,” he said to laughs. Should Musk go through with his takeover attempt, he likely could raise the roughly $43 billion he needs, possibly by borrowing billions using his stakes in Tesla and SpaceX as collateral. Most of Musk’s fortune, estimated by Forbes to be nearly $265 billion, is tied up in shares of Tesla. The company allows executive officers to use shares as collateral for loans, but limits the borrowing to 25% of the value of the pledged shares. Data provider FactSet says Musk owns 172.6 million shares worth $176.47 billion. Just over 51% of his stake already is pledged as collateral, according to a Tesla proxy statement. That means Musk could use the remaining stake to borrow about $21.5 billion. He also could borrow on his stake in privately held SpaceX. Musk revealed in regulatory filings over recent weeks that he’d been buying Twitter shares in almost daily batches starting Jan. 31, ending up with a stake of about 9%. Only Vanguard Group controls more Twitter shares. A lawsuit filed Tuesday in New York federal court alleged Musk illegally delayed disclosing his stake in the social media company so he could buy more shares at lower prices. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could punish Musk for hurting other investors by taking too long to disclose his buying up of Twitter shares, but it’s unlikely that it will do anything to stop a takeover, said Chester Spatt, a former SEC chief economist. “This is going to play out reasonably quickly,” said Spatt, now a finance professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Jacob Frenkel, a former SEC enforcement attorney now with the Dickinson Wright law firm in Washington, said it is difficult to prove an investor’s intent in disclosure cases. “The mere fact of the violation around the disclosure does not mean that there was fraud,” Frenkel said. However, there is “plenty of fodder for an investigation” into whether anyone with knowledge of Musk’s share purchases traded in the stock before Musk’s public disclosures, Frenkel said. After Musk announced his stake, Twitter quickly offered him a seat on its board on the condition that he not own more than 14.9% of the company’s outstanding stock. But the company said five days later that he’d declined. The decision coincided with a barrage of now-deleted and not-always-serious tweets from Musk proposing major changes to the company, such as dropping ads — its chief source of revenue — and transforming its San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter. The turnabout led CEO Parag Agrawal to warn employees earlier this week that “there will be distractions ahead” and to “tune out the noise and stay focused on the work.” Twitter hasn't done as well as its social media rivals and lost money last year. The company reported a net loss of $221 million for 2021 largely tied to the settlement of a lawsuit by shareholders who said the company misled investors about how much its user base was growing and how much users interacted with its platform. Its co-founder Jack Dorsey resigned as CEO in late November and was replaced by Agrawal. “I’m not saying I have all the answers here, but I do think that we want to be just very reluctant to delete things and just be very cautious with permanent bans,” Musk said. “It won’t be perfect," he said, but there should be a perception and reality that speech is “as free as reasonably possible.”

Elon Musk’s huge Twitter investment took a new twist Tuesday with the filing of a lawsuit alleging that the colorful billionaire illegally delayed disclosing his stake in the social media company so he could buy more shares at lower prices. The complaint in New York federal court accuses Musk of violating a regulatory deadline to reveal he had accumulated a stake of at least 5%. Instead, according to the complaint, Musk didn’t disclose his position in Twitter until he’d almost doubled his stake to more than 9%. That strategy, the lawsuit alleges, hurt less wealthy investors who sold shares in the San Francisco company in the nearly two weeks before Musk acknowledged holding a major stake. Musk’s regulatory filings show that he bought a little more than 620,000 shares at $36.83 apiece on Jan. 31 and then continued to accumulate more shares on nearly every single trading day through April 1. Musk, best known as CEO of the electric car maker Tesla, held 73.1 million Twitter shares as of the most recent count Monday. That represents a 9.1% stake in Twitter. The lawsuit alleges that by March 14, Musk’s stake in Twitter had reached a 5% threshold that required him to publicly disclose his holdings under U.S. securities law by March 24. Musk didn’t make the required disclosure until April 4. Read: Elon Musk no longer joining Twitter's board of directors That revelation caused Twitter’s stock to soar 27% from its April 1 close to nearly $50 by the end of April 4′s trading, depriving investors who sold shares before Musk’s improperly delayed disclosure the chance to realize significant gains, according to the lawsuit filed on behalf of an investor named Marc Bain Rasella. Musk, meanwhile, was able to continue to buy shares that traded in prices ranging from $37.69 to $40.96. The lawsuit is seeking to be certified as a class action representing Twitter shareholders who sold shares between March 24 and April 4, a process that could take a year or more. Musk spent about $2.6 billion on Twitter stock — a fraction of his estimated wealth of $265 billion, the largest individual fortune in the world. In a regulatory filing Monday, Musk disclosed he may increase his stake after backing out of an agreement reached last week to join Twitter’s board of directors. Read: Russian Ntech Lab offers facial recognition software Jacob Walker, one of the lawyers that filed the lawsuit against Musk, told The Associated Press that he hadn’t reached out to the Securities and Exchange Commission about Musk’s alleged violations about the disclosure of his Twitter stake. “I assume the SEC is well aware of what he did,” Walker said. An SEC spokesperson declined to comment. The SEC and Musk have been wrangling in court since 2018 when Musk and Tesla agreed to pay a $40 million fine t o settle allegations that he used his Twitter account to mislead investors about a potential buyout of the electric car company that never materialized. As part of that deal, Musk was supposed to obtain legal approval for his tweets about information that could affect Tesla’s stock price — a provision that regulators contend he has occasionally violated and that he now argues unfairly muzzles him. Musk didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment posted on Twitter, where he often shares his opinion and thoughts. Alex Spiro, a New York lawyer representing Musk in his ongoing dispute with the SEC, also didn’t immediately respond to a query from The Associated Press.

Leading global smartphone brand vivo has announced discount for three of its phones on the occasion of Bengali New Year.  The discounted models are V23e, Y53s and Y1s, both from the brand's Y series, said a press release issued on Tuesday. Also read: Vivo Y33s 4G Review: Do features accompany premium look? From now onwards, v23e will be available on Tk 25990, where it was before at Tk 27990, the vivo Y53s will be sold at the promotional price of Tk20,990, instead of the regular price of Tk22,990 and the Y1s for Tk8,990 (regular price Tk9,990). Sales Director for vivo Bangladesh Sharon said that the Y series has always been well received by buyers because of high-quality features at affordable prices.  "The vivo Y series phones are unmatched when it comes to affordable phones with good features. Pahela Baishakh is one of the biggest festivals in Bangladesh. And people may look to get new phones on this occasion. We are offering the discount so that consumers can buy great phones for affordable prices," she said. Read:Vivo redefines smartphone charging capabilities through Fast Charge Technology vivo V23e vivo's V23e combines one of the industry's top front cameras, along with cutting-edge innovations in autofocus and various portrait modes, including AI Extreme Night Portrait and Multi-Style Portrait. The new V23e runs on Fun touch OS 12, supported by an 8 GB + 4 GB Extended RAM experience with Extended RAM 2.0, allowing 4GB of memory to be used as RAM whenever necessary, providing a lag-free experience. vivo Y53s With a Tk 2,000 discount, the 8 GB RAM and 128 GB ROM device will be of even greater value. Fitted with a 5,000mAh battery and capable of 33W fast charging, the Y53s has a 16-megapixel front and 64-megapixel main camera on the back. The back-camera system has 2 more cameras, each 2 megapixels. Read Eid Offers 2022: Various Deals, and Discounts in Bangladesh vivo Y1s The least expensive of the three, the Y1s has 2 GB RAM and 32 GB ROM. The phone has a 4030mAh battery and available in Olive Black and Aurora Blue colors.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk won't be joining Twitter's board of directors as previously announced. The tempestuous billionaire remains Twitter’s largest shareholder. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal tweeted the news, which followed a weekend of Musk tweets suggesting possible changes to Twitter, including making the site ad-free. Nearly 90% of Twitter's 2021 revenue came from ads. Also read: SpaceX’s Elon Musk: 1st orbital Starship flight maybe March “Elon's appointment to the board was to become officially effective on 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he would not be joining the board,” Agrawal wrote in a reposted note originally sent to Tesla employees. “I believe this is for the best.” Agrawal didn't offer an explanation for Musk's apparent decision, although he dropped one major hint. The Twitter board “believed having Elon as a fiduciary of the company, where he, like all board members, has to act in the best interests of the company and all our shareholders, was the best path forward," he wrote. At 9:30 p.m., Musk tweeted an emoji of a face with round eyes and a hand over its mouth. The symbol is often used to suggest embarrassment or coy laughter, sometimes with a connotation of “Oops!” It was not clear what Musk meant by the tweet, and he didn’t elaborate on it.

Global smart device brand Oppo unveiled the latest addition to their F series devices – F21 Pro – at a city hotel Sunday. F21 Pro features a combination of innovation and art, pairing an extravagant design with top-notch features. It will retail for Tk27,990 and pre-orders for the phone will begin on April 11. Oppo's F series has always been famous for its attractive design and advanced features, and F21 Pro is no different, Damon Yang, CEO of Oppo Bangladesh Authorised Exclusive Distributor, said. Read Symphony Z42 Review: Affordable Phone from Local Market "The device has been curated with an innovative design and top-notch quality. With different new technological innovations, this device will add value to people's lives in every way," he added. F21 Pro supports Microlens up to 30x magnification for capturing images and videos, which allows users to take smartphone photography to new heights. The phone has unique features on the front camera, thanks to IMX709 (the country's first Sony IMX709 Selfie Sensor co-developed by Oppo and Sony) and RGBW sensor technology. Read Walton Primo S8 Mini: A Budget Friendly Gaming Phone The RGBW (red, green, blue, and white) pixel design accounts for crisper images and can increase light sensitivity by a few notches. The new RGBW pixel array can capture the full spectrum of visible light and is relatively more sensitive to light intensity. The IMX709 captures 60 percent more light than standard RGGB sensors while reducing noise by up to 35 percent for brighter images in low-light conditions. Read Samsung Galaxy A23 4G: Can it uphold the reputation of ancestors? With its eye-catching sunset-orange colour, F21 Pro complements the users' lifestyle by adding extravagance to any style. The phone's smart design consisting of a spliced camera design combined with a bold flat-edge outlook makes it visually appealing. The lychee grain leather material is both waterproof and scratch-proof. The final processed fibreglass leather is thinner and more durable than other vegan leather finishes. F21 Pro is also equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 6nm Octa-Core processor, 8GB RAM and 128GB ROM with Oppo RAM Expansion technology with up to 5GB RAM expansion, 33W Supervooc charging with 4500mAh Battery, 6.4 inch 90Hz AMOLED Display. Read Xiaomi Redmi 10c Review: Can this budget phone fulfil users’ needs? Oppo F21 Pro is the first Oppo phone in Bangladesh upgraded with the ColorOS 12 system. ColorOS 12's page layouts and interactions have been redesigned to make more space. The user interface is simple and uncluttered.